


The Greatest Gift

by adjovi



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-18 22:32:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16128113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adjovi/pseuds/adjovi
Summary: Character study of Quentin and Julia just before the final quest. Mentions of Penny/Julia and Penny/Kady, really Quentin/Eliot, but really, really about Quentin and Julia's friendship.





	The Greatest Gift

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favorite things about S3 was the redemption arc of Quentin and Julia's friendship--mirroring Eliot and Margo in some ways. I just wanted to show a bit of that through this story. Comments and kudos give me life. Thanks for letting me share. And, special thanks to sullyandlulu for looking this over and generally being awesome.

She loved spending time with him. He made her feel safe and cared for. Ensconced here, in his messy room that smelled so much of _boy_ , sitting with him on his messy bed. There was this unencumbered lightness she felt only when she was around him. Even now, even having just visited his father, burdened heavily with the knowledge that his actions could directly cause his death, he still emanated a gentle affection and calm maturity that made her feel soft and warm. She wanted to be wrapped up with him, to hold him close. Wished she could help, but right now, his dad was fine, so there was nothing to cure. She knew this intimacy, this—proximity, had a shelf life; knew it in her bones. It wasn’t even about the end of the quests. Something was changing, the tide was flowing out, and nothing she could do would change this. So, she would soak him up for as long as she could.

He was bent over a book of sketches of castles, hair hastily wound around into a small knot held in place with a band. She wished he would cut it, at least enough to keep it out of his face, but she knew he still needed that shield from time to time. She also knew that there was some small part of him that didn’t realize how truly beautiful he really was, although that was less than before; he had been given evidence of the contrary enough times that maybe it had started to sink in a little. He twisted the book around to allow her a better look. “What if it turned out to be this one?” His eyes were alight. It was a picture of Cinderella’s castle from Disney World.

She snorted, bumping his shoulder with her own. “Makes sense that the end of the world would be in Orlando.”

He leaned back against the headboard, eyes crinkling at the corners in the way that she loved, and she leaned back next to him. “God, remember our tenth grade trip with the matching t-shirts?”

She snorted a laugh. “Holy shit, yeah. Oh my god, Q, you were sooooo pissed at me that you rode that stupid ball ride at Epcot all by yourself!”

He laughed fully then, tilting his head back to the ceiling. “Oh my God. I totally forgot about that!” He giggled again, looking at her from the side of his eyes. “You tried to set me up with what’s-her-name, Amber something? And I got so freaking mad at you!” He let loose another string of giggles. “I just remember being in that stupid, boring-ass ride, and I put my sunglasses on and couldn’t see anything anyways like that would prove something. Seriously, though. Shit, Jules.” They were both giggling together, leaning in to one another.

“And then you ended making out with Carly on the ‘Haunted Mansion’ ride anyways.” She nudged him again. “You know, they have video cameras everywhere there. I bet the staff watch people sucking face—or worse—on those rides.”

“Oh fuck, Carly. Oh, my God. Jesus.” He was laughing fully now, tears springing the corners of his eyes. “Good thing she didn’t turn all stalker weirdo on me.” He snorted again. “Or, wait.”

She snorted back at him. “Well, I’ve been meaning to ask you about your questionable taste in women—I mean, I’m sorry, Q, but that Poppy girl seemed straight up crazy.”

He swiped at his eyes, squeezing at the corners. “Yeah. Not my finest hour.”

She tilted away from him a bit, over-exaggerating her reaction. “A whole _hour_? Really?” He just smirked and shook his head in response. She was grinning slyly at him, then became a bit more serious, clasping her hands together in her lap, needing to ask. “I mean.” She brought her lips together. “I know it is _none_ of my business, like, at all, but what about—“

His eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion, and he looked down and to the side, lost in thought. “About?” He flicked his eyes back towards her, shaking his head, genuinely puzzled.

She held a hand up to the side, shrugging. “Well—Eliot?“

His face made that thing like he was just realizing something, _ah_ , and he smiled easily, shrugging back. “What does she have to do with Eliot?”

She rolled her eyes at him, not sure if he was just giving her a hard time, but the look on his face wasn’t teasing. “No, I mean. I just thought—“

He smiled at her again, leaning back, shrugging again lightly. “It’s not like that.” She was surprised—she thought it was _exactly_ like that. He went to reach for another book, but she put a hand on his arm, stopping him. “What?

She was confused, knew it showed on her face by the way his brow furrowed. “But, I thought? I mean, Q, you and Eliot—you said—“ He had said a lot. In fits and starts at first, but she finally was able to get most of their quest story out of him late one night after he could barely contain the quiet _joy_ she felt he was always carrying around with him now. After a literal lifetime of self-doubt and heartache, it was a welcome shift, one that she basked in.

“No, I mean—“ He smiled, a wistful look on his face. “It’s not like that. With us. He wouldn’t care. Neither would I, if it were the other way around.” He licked his lips, in the way she knew he was working out what to say. “I mean, I guess it would depend on the person, maybe?” he allowed, slowly. He reached out, placing a hand on her knee, and she dropped her hand on top of his reflexively. “I don’t know, I guess I had some pretty fucked up ideas about what being in love meant, you know? Like—with Alice. I don’t want to discount what we had, and it isn’t fair to compare. But, I always felt like I was balancing on the edge of a precipice, or on the thinnest ice at all times with her, and the smallest move in the wrong direction and the whole thing would shatter apart.” He looked away, frowning, sadness briefly clouding his face. “And, it did.”

She tilted her head downwards, catching his eyes and shaking his hand, smiling at him. “Hey. I know I wasn’t really around when you and Alice were together, but for what it’s worth—well, he’s pretty great, Q.”

“He is.” His eyes were aglow and this made her feel warm as well. “It’s so different, with him. It’s—easy isn’t the right word. Maybe— _sure_ is a better word? That’s not exactly the right, either, but we both _get_ it, understand it; know what I mean?”

“Not exactly, but if you do, then that’s what matters.” She twined his fingers with his. “Did I ever tell you about the time he came to get the amulet so you could face Ember?”

“No.” She could tell he was wary of where this particular story was going—she had been especially broken then. She gave his hand a small squeeze in reassurance. 

“Well, he could have left me there. Almost did. I most certainly would have left _him_. But, he turned around, knew I was hurting, and said something about me putting pants on and saving the world.”

Quentin barked out a surprised laugh. “Yep. Definitely sounds like him. Although, I would have figured he would have preferred a pants _off_ version, but hey.”

She gave him a slightly scandalized look, totally faking it. “Well, the point being—that was the moment I realized that he was fundamentally a good person. He didn’t need to help me; in fact, I had fucked him over enough in the past that he probably shouldn’t have. But he saw me in need, and reached out.”

Quentin’s voice was quiet now, smiling softly to himself. “Yep. Definitely sounds like him.” After a moment, he shook his head a bit, as if clearing himself from a reverie. “So—“ He smiled at her, almost hesitantly. “How about you?”

“What about me?” Of course she knew what he was talking about, and her stomach flipped, not entirely unpleasantly, but she hadn’t even begun to really examine her feelings around Penny.

He smiled crookedly at her. “Penny, of course.” She marveled a bit at how comfortable things were between them now, how unencumbered by a lifetime of unrequited crushes and hurt feelings. She honestly never thought they would get here.“I don’t know, Q. There’s a whole lot of baggage there I’m not sure I’m ready to unpack just yet. I mean, my relationship with Kady has always been—complicated. Besides, I barely knew _your_ version of Penny, and now this one says I’m his soul mate?”

He smiled softly at her again, squeezing her hand. “Kady is my friend, too. And, I wouldn’t want to hurt her, either.” He sighed. “But, I can say from experience that soul mates are pretty fucking rare and precious. Most people don’t ever get the chance. So, when you do find one, you can’t just turn your back on them. You deserve to be happy, too, Jules.”

She sighed in response, thinking this was a bit rich coming from someone who was currently separated from the man that he loved more than anything in the world because of a quest and a magical kingdom, but she looked at him regarding her so sedately, so _wisely_ that she kept her thoughts to herself. “I didn’t think you were the president of the Penny fan club, anyways.”

He huffed a laugh. “Yeah. No. He kind of hated me from the word go, and it was pretty mutual.” He brushed a stray strand of hair that had slipped into his face, wrapping it behind his ear. “But I also saw how fiercely he loved Kady, no matter what they’d been through, and they’ve been through a lot.” He closed his eyes briefly, blowing out a slow breath. “And, despite the fact that he openly hated my guts, he did save my life several times without even thinking.”

“I don’t—“ She stopped suddenly, feeling the both of them walk through the portal. She felt all of them, all of the time now. This was something else she kept to herself, knowing it would probably weird them all the fuck out. Truth be told, _she_ was weirded the fuck out. And it wasn’t just them that she felt. There were voices constantly calling out to her in need. She knew these voices would ultimately be what pulled her from him, from them. She gasped, overcome by a wave of longing, of excitement, of finally coming _home_ to something that wasn’t tied to a place. She smiled at him.

“Jules?” He flicked his eyes to the side then back, shaking his head slightly in confusion.

“I’ll tell you later.” She didn’t want to spoil the surprise, and honestly wanted to steal a few more minutes of having him all to herself. She looked at him, then. This beautiful, fucked up man, who knew her better than anyone else in her life. She knew someone else held purchase on his heart now, too, but she was willing to share. She still had the nascent bits of him all to herself, and this had become her most treasured possession—knowing the boy before the man he had become. They, too, had been through some real shit, and she marveled that he had stuck with her through it all. He was a goofy, nerdy fool who ran headlong into danger without ever thinking of himself, or what that would do to those who loved him. But, he ultimately gave her something she never, ever thought she deserved: forgiveness.

She must have been staring for too long to be normal because he shifted nervously, shaking her hand a bit. “What?”

“I just really fucking love you, Q.” She leaned towards him, pulling him into a hug. He went willingly.

“I love you too, Jules.” He said this mostly into her hair, arms sliding effortlessly around her, holding her tight. She could feel his heartbeat, strong and true, right against her own. They sat together for a bit longer, but then he reluctantly pulled back, and she felt a small pang at the coldness left behind in the wake of his warmth. “We’d better figure something out before Margo gets here, or she’ll kick all of our asses.”

She couldn’t help the giggle that burst forth, and he turned to look at her in surprised amusement. “Holy shit, Q. Did she really win the write in vote over _beastility_?”

He couldn’t help but giggle in response, and it was infectious. “Holy fuck. Those were _children’s_ books.” They were caught in a circle of laughter, each one setting the other off, before she felt a presence at the door, and she put a hand on his arm, stilling him.

“Come in!” He looked at her, confused, before turning his attention to the door. Eliot stepped through, and he somehow managed to pull off regal elegance with an outfit that on anyone else would have screamed Ren Faire.

Quentin’s whole energy changed then, his face erupting into a huge smile, and he practically launched himself at Eliot. Eliot pulled him in close immediately, closing his eyes, pressing a small kiss to his brow. Quentin leaned back to get a look at him. “Hi.” He threw his voice lower. “You ok?”

Eliot reached out and gently touched his face. “Better now.”

Julia decided to make herself scarce then, scooping up the books and making space on the bed. “I’m just going to—go pretty much anywhere else.” She awkwardly balanced the pile of books in her arms, trying to scoot past Eliot.

Eliot looked over at her, giving her a small but warm smile. “Hi, Julia.”

She nodded at him. “Welcome back.” A small part of her wanted to pull him by the elbow into the hallway, remind him that she literally was the only person in the world who had magic and that she would flay him alive if he broke Q’s heart. But, when she looked back at them, she was genuinely staggered by the look of love shared between the two men, and knew that Q’s heart was in safe hands. She snuck past them, not that they even noticed, closing the door softly behind her with a gentle click.


End file.
